TERI and TERI University jointly organized a Technology Discussion Forum (TDF) on Solar Lighting on 14 November 2011. The objective of the discussion was to bring key stakeholders in the lighting sector on a common platform to collectively develop a framework for quality benchmarking of solar lighting products and to discuss key technical areas for collaborative research over the course of next three to five years.

Over the past few years the solar lighting market has grown rapidly in response to a strong global commitment towards providing quality lighting to people without access to electricity. This growth has ushered in new players with diverse solar lighting products having different features and attributes. Further, the lighting industry has also been constantly introducing new and innovative technologies and concepts which are expected to be adopted in the solar lighting sector. However, the market intelligence, technical reports and consumer feedback do not always support the same. Further, since the solar lighting caters mostly to rural and remote segments of the community, there are additional attributes and characteristics, mainly pertaining to durability, reparability, usability, that a solar lighting product is expected to carry.